by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
To The States, or any one of them
Language: English
To The States, or any one of them,
or any city of The States,
Resist much, obey little;
Once unquestioning obedience, once fully enslaved;
Once fully enslaved, no nation, state, city, of this earth,
ever afterward resumes its liberty.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Whitman, Walt, Leaves of Grass, Philadelphia: David McKay, c1900.
Text Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "Walt Whitman's caution", appears in Leaves of Grass [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "To the States", 2003 [ soprano or tenor and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Silvan Loher (b. 1986), "To The States", op. 6 no. 8 [ voice and piano ], from Ten Poems by Walt Whitman, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-05-04
Line count: 6
Word count: 39